A few days ago my friends and I were discussing why the New Year has to begin in Winter. It can be a bummer to start a New Year in below freezing weather.
Turns out we can blame Julius Caesar. In 46 B.C. he helped to create a calendar (similar to what we use now) and decided to honor the god Janus and make January 1st the beginning of the New Year.
Come the dead of winter and a new year begins. It is fitting that is happens before Spring. We begin with all things dead and cold (keep in mind I'm talking about a Midwest winter) and before too long the weather warms, trees and grasses bud and begin to grow. Death and rebirth of nature. A re-start. The new year kind of allows us a starting point for change. The new year resolutions abound.
I am one of the many who fail to keep whatever resolution I might have made. I honestly don't remember the last time I actually made a new years resolution. If I have to call it a resolution so be it, but I think I'd rather call it a promise to myself. I promise to spend a little more time doing the things I enjoy. I want to spend more time being creative. I want to challenge myself. I want to travel more. Even if it's just something little every other day or so, something small, a short weekend trip. Little steps are better than no steps. When you enjoy what you are doing it makes it easier to keep doing it :-)
So this year, make a promise to yourself to more of what you enjoy. Challenge yourself to do something new.